LIV Golf: Circuit must live up to DeChambeau feat as relegation looms for some
LIV Golf has a problem this weekend as the party rolls into Trump National at Bedminster, in New Jersey. Just how does it back up Bryson DeChambeau’s incredible 58 last week down the road in Greenbrier?
A 58 around Bedminster would be better than one around Greenbrier with the New Jersey course set at 71 for par – Greenbrier was 70.
And players are returning to a course on last year’s inaugural circuit.
Winner, winner
Henrik Stenson was the individual winner last year with the 4Aces GC team taking home the team title.
But there’s more on the line this weekend than just the $4m (£3.1m) prize for leading the pack come the end of Sunday’s play, there’s points on offer that go towards both the season-ending individual title but also towards deciding who is on the tour next year.
The 24 highest ranked players will be guaranteed playing privileges on the 2024 tour with the individuals ranked below 45th relegated from their respective teams.
And of course there’s the race to Miami and the team championship this year, where a prize pot of $50m (£39.2m) is up for grabs.
The youngest team in the tournament, Torque GC – Joaquin Niemann, David Puig, Sebastian Munoz and Mito Pereira – sit just seven points behind leaders 4Aces GC – Dustin Johnson, Pat Perez, Patrick Reed and Peter Uihlein – in the table.
RangeGoats GC’s Talor Gooch leads the individual standings ahead of major winners Cameron Smith of Ripper GC and Brooks Koepka of Smash GC.
Liv Golf’ing on a prayer
The highest ranked Brit, on the other hand, is Richard Bland in 23rd with Ian Poulter and Sam Horsfield 32nd and 39th and Lee Westwood right on the 45-player limit.
So with just three individual events remaining – in Bedminster, Chicago and Jeddah – eyes are beginning to watch the individual leaderboard with interest.
So it may take another incredible performance, like the one we saw from DeChambeau in Greenbrier, to shake up the standings but it may simply be a case of playing a clean 54 holes and letting your opponents make their mistakes.
LIV Golf have leaned into their leaderboards more this year, to their credit, and it has developed a running element for golf fans to take notice of.
And come the end of the season, one of the relegated golfers may look back to this weekend in New Jersey and wonder whether this was the moment their season fell apart.